SA’s trillion rand second-hand economy

The average South African household has 17 items that could be sold for an estimated total value of over R4 000.

This is revealed in a survey that has shown a potential value of R1.4 trillion in second-hand trading in the country.

The Gumtree survey shows that more than 40% of South Africans sold at least one unwanted item in 2017.

Estelle Nagel, Brand and Verticals Manager of Gumtree SA, said that as more South Africans get decent internet access, the local second-hand economy will continue to boom as the formal economy continues to stumble.

“All round the world online classifieds have revolutionised second-hand trading. At the moment this survey indicates that around 15% of South Africans are selling online but the number is growing rapidly to the point where we have nearly a million listings and 5.2 million unique visitors to our site every month. The potential upside for cash-strapped consumers is immense.”

Nagel said it is no surprise that the survey found that the younger the demographic, the more they made trading online. “Local Millennials report R30k in personal second-hand sales per year which is five times the average for Baby Boomers. Millennials are especially adept in getting value out of things like old cellphones after an upgrade.”

According to the survey, the biggest category of unwanted items in local households is clothes, shoes and accessories, followed by DVD’s and CD’s, books and electronic goods.

At the moment the most common method of disposing of unwanted items is giving them away to friends or family, followed by donations to charity and then selling. Throwing unwanted items away is an option for around one in three people.